Federal policies harming veterans by design
To the editor:
Armed Forces Day, May 16, honors the men and women currently serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and the Space Force. It is one of three major holidays honoring service members.
Wait times have increased at 71% of the hospitals they have data for, and these increases are hitting the newest generation of veterans especially hard. Neurology, where veterans get care for traumatic brain injuries, sees average wait times of 76 days. Oncology, cancer treatment for toxic exposures, 46 days. Pulmonology, treatment for lungs damaged by burn pits, 45 days. The VA standard for care? 28 days.
The VA isn’t broken — it’s being dismantled by the Republican Party and Donald Trump: 30,000 VA staff positions have been eliminated since Trump took office, and 90% of VA facilities are short of doctors.
All of this is by design, all of it was in Project 2025, and all of it contributes to the same goal: Privatization.
Karyn Edison
Fort Myers